Night Walk
by Reizbar-Ookami
Summary: ONESHOT: Because sometimes you're surprised by the people who take comfort in you. And sometimes you're surprised by how little you knew when you thought you knew so much. And sometimes... just sometimes, you realize that things that might have bothered you can change with just a little perspective from someone else.


Author's Note: I've been in a very funny mood recently. That is the only thing that can explain these.

* * *

Night Walk

It was cold. And dark. Everything around him resonated hate and anger.

Naruto didn't want to seem like a coward, but he was scared.

He pushed open a cold, blood-stained door and began walking down a slimy black hallway. It was almost even colder in the hallway. There were rows and rows of doors on either side of it, some black or green with mold while others had the familiar scarlet bloodstains that had been on the first one. He sensed that these doors only led to more coldness, so he began walking through the hallway, searching for one door—any door—that wasn't so cold and scary.

He searched for a door that was warm, that would offer him shelter from all of the hate and anger and cold and fear.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Other than that, how did your day go?" Anko asked, setting a cup of coffee in front of her friend and foster-brother.

Iruka glared at her and pointed to the scabbing over his eyebrow and the multiple Band-Aids on his hands. "I hate kunai practice!"

"And you know what? After you finished yelling at them, the kids probably hate it too," she replied, sitting down across from him with her own mug. "And you have more practice tomorrow?"

The brunet shuddered. "_Kunai…_"

"I'll pray for your health!" the kunoichi promised cheerfully, ignoring the glare she received.

Iruka muttered some choice words under his breath and took a gulp of the scalding, bitter liquid. "Mm…"

"I CAN'T FIND THE KITTEN!" Tomiko shrieked, appearing in a burst of smoke.

Anko screamed as the chunin immediately spewed his coffee on her and jumped up. "IRUKA!"

Iruka wiped his chin with his hand and turned toward his feline summon quickly. "What did you just say?"

"I check on him on my way home to make sure no one's messing with him since that time I stumbled across those men trying to break into his apartment," the black cat explained hurriedly. "I can't see him. There's no sign of a struggle, but he's usually in bed by now and his bed was still warm when I got there but _he's_ not there!"

"Shit!" Anko wiped her face with a napkin quickly. "He's probably sleep walking again!"

"Tomiko, can you track him?" the brunet asked quickly but sternly.

The feline bristled determinedly. "I know his smell. I may not be a dog, but I'm better than _you._"

"Then what the hell are you waiting for you fuzzy waste of space!" the special jounin snarled.

The worry went unspoken.

Anko worried they wouldn't find Naruto in time, that they'd find him just in time to watch him die. He was just a little kid; she couldn't stand it if he died.

Iruka worried that someone would find Naruto and take advantage of him. It wouldn't be the first time, but luckily someone (Kakashi) _someone_ had come across them and knocked the person's lights out. He didn't want Naruto to be violated in any way; he didn't want to see him afraid to be vulnerable.

Tomiko worried that he might not be able to find Naruto. He knew Naruto's scent, and he can track if he has to, but the village was full of so many scents, and Naruto's always running around. He doesn't want to be following Naruto's scent only to realize that it was from earlier in the day and not the crucial late-night trail.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto saw a light. It was faint, but he could get to it. He began running toward it, dodging the muck and rats in the hallway. As he approached it, he wondered if he should knock. He paused at the door—clean, brown, normal—then decided that if it was safe, the person would have expected him.

He opened the door and stepped inside. It was the most wonderful warmth, and he felt so safe. He didn't know _how_ he knew, but he _did_ know that he would be okay there, so he settled himself down and goes back to sleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"—and I really believe that—" Kakashi cut himself off as he sensed someone familiar outside his door. He waited for someone to knock and was both surprised and offended when his blond student walked into his house without knocking or asking to come in. He opened his mouth, then closed it. The boy was in his pajamas.

"Dobe, what are you—" Sasuke began, but cut himself off as well when the blond walked over to the couch, sat down beside him, and promptly began snoring. "…What the hell?"

The silver-haired man stared. "…So, about that extra training I was talking about," he said, deciding to ignore what had happened. "I really believe that if we just focus on your chakra control—"

"How the hell do you pretend you didn't just see that!" Sasuke exclaimed.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I'm losing his scent! It smells too much like dog!" Tomiko exclaimed, frustrated.

"Dog?" Anko gasped. "Dog! Kakashi can help us!"

Iruka grunted, eyebrow twitching a little. However, he admitted that the copy-nin's dogs would probably do better at tracking (since that's what they were trained for), so he nodded and followed her toward the jounin sensei's apartment. "…Anko, why do I get the sneaking suspicion that you know where he lives because of less than ethical reasons?"

"Come on! You can't tell me you've never wanted to see his face!" she laughed, only to yelp as she dodged a shuriken. "Gah! Iruka!"

"The only reason I want to see his face is so I can punch his teeth in!" the chunin roared.

Anko muttered something that sounded a lot like 'killjoy.' Eventually, however, they stopped in front of a door that had a sign reading 'Hatake' on the plaque, so she lifted her hand to knock. "…What the…"

"What the what?" Iruka frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"…Naruto's in _there!_" she snarled, kicking the door open instead of knocking to politely ask for help like she'd intended.

Tomiko rushed inside and, finding Naruto snoring on a futon, immediately curled up on the blond's chest and glared at the copy-nin. "Lazy-dog-nin!"

Anko roared and leapt inside, grabbing the jounin by his collar and shaking him. "Just who do you think you are, kidnapping Naruto!"

Sasuke shuffled backward, both alarmed and worried, because her eyes had a crazy light in them. "Um…" He turned his head as he heard a sigh.

Iruka toed his shoes off and closed the door. "Pardon the intrusion…" He looked down at the blond and sighed again, frowning. "How long has he been here?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "An hour. Maybe."

"…Great…" The brunet frowned. Naruto looked so comfortable that he didn't want to move him. It had been so long since he'd walked in his sleep; he must have been exhausted. He saw the blond squirm and immediately scowled, quietly snapping, "Anko, shut _up!_"

She froze immediately, the hand holding her kunai freezing mere inches away from her prey's throat. "What!"

"Naruto walks in his sleep. Just be grateful he found someplace _safe_ this time," Iruka hissed, glaring at her. "Put your kunai away and stop strangling Kakashi! He was nice enough to put Naruto on a futon and put a blanket on him!"

Kakashi smiled. "See? I'm not a kidnapper." He grunted as he was brusquely dropped on the floor. "Hey!"

Anko huffed and dusted herself off. "Well, now that we know he's safe, and now that I've had enough excitement for one night, I'm gonna head home."

"Hatake-san, would you mind if I left Naruto here? I don't want to disturb him. He only sleepwalks when he's exhausted and passes out," Iruka murmured, bowing. "If you don't mind, I'll stay here with him. I don't need a futon."

The silver-haired man rubbed the back of his head. "Maa… I suppose. I sleep odd hours, though." He flinched when the chunin stood up straight and gave him a look clearing stating, _'You're a moron. A genius on the battlefield, but a moron anywhere else. I'm a ninja too. Moron.'_ "Alright then."

"Thank you, Hatake-san. Tomiko?" Iruka smiled sweetly. "Will you be a dear and go get my satchel so that I can grade some papers in the meantime?"

The feline scowled. "No. I'm comfy. He's got no chest muscles yet."

The brunet's smile turned chilly. "_Tomiko._"

"But I'm sure I can get comfortable again when I return," Tomiko added quickly, disappearing in a burst of smoke.

Kakashi frowned. "I never said the fleabag could stay." The chilly smile was turned on him. "…But I'm sure I can tolerate the few hours he'll be here."

Sasuke turned to give his sensei a bland look. _'Really? You're backing down from a chunin?'_ He turned to look at Iruka. _'…Then again, it's Iruka-sensei, so he's perfectly well within his rights to back down.'_

Tomiko returned shortly with the academy teacher's satchel, which Iruka promptly opened to pull out various colored pens and a stack of papers. The brunet sat down beside the futon and tucked a green pen behind one ear, a purple one behind the other, and picked up a red one as he carefully eyed the paper on top, pulling Naruto's blanket back a little to allow Tomiko to lie on his chest again without smothering the poor blond.

"…So." Sasuke turned back to Kakashi. "Chakra training."

The jounin lifted himself off the floor and sighed. "Maa, right."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Kakashi walked out of the kitchen with two large cups of black coffee in one hand and a tray with cream, sugar, chocolate syrup, and milk in the other. "I don't know how you take your coffee, so I brought this out."

Iruka stared at the tray. "…And now I want to use them all."

"…Well, I could pour some of the coffee out of your cup," the jounin stated after a moment, placing the tray on the coffee table. He went to sit down on the couch, remembered that Sasuke had fallen asleep there, and sighed, taking a seat on the floor across from the chunin. "Jeez, all these brats just showing up and taking over my apartment."

"You could always use your bed," Iruka teased, squeezing some chocolate syrup into his coffee and stirring it.

"Maa, Pakkun is using it."

"…Pakkun is a pug."

"And yet he still manages to take up half of the bed." Kakashi put a spoonful of sugar in his coffee and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He stared into the depths of his ceramic cup for a few minutes before asking, "Neh, sensei, why do you think Naruto came here?"

The chunin frowned and poured a splash of cream and a splash of milk into his cup. "Well, he hasn't done this for several weeks. Like I said, it usually only happens when he's beyond exhausted and passes out. He's probably just pushed himself too hard." He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "If it starts up again, I'll have to tell the Hokage so we can get ANBU to watch him again…" He took a sip of his coffee and sighed, brows furrowing in frustration.

Kakashi took a drink from his mug through his mask. "You didn't answer my question. Why do you think Naruto came _here?_"

"Probably the same reason he used to go to the Hokage's home. Probably the same reason he started coming to my house or Anko's. …Probably the same reason he's been found wandering around when none of us were home. He wants to be safe, so he unconsciously goes to a place he knows is safe. If there door isn't open, he'll look for another safe place. If all of the doors are locked, he'll wander around."

He took another sip from his mug. "Tomiko finds him most of the time. He sleeps during the day and prowls the village at night, looking in on the students I ask him to. Some students don't come from very healthy homes, you know." He gave Sasuke a sidelong glance. "He still checks on Sasuke sometimes, when I wonder how he's doing. I have other students in my class now for him to check on, though, so I'm glad that all of my students went to good teachers."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "And you do this for all your students?"

"Tomiko sleeps during the day when I'm not on missions. He needs something to do at night because he can't mouse and he can't mate most of the time—at least until cats go into heat. So he runs errands for me at night," Iruka explained. "He tracked Naruto over here after he didn't find him at home. Thank you for letting him stay, Hatake-san."

"Maa, sensei, if we're going to continue staying up nights together, I insist you call me Kakashi," the jounin ordered, smiling beneath his mask.

Iruka tilted his head in surprise, frowning, before slowly replying, "…Thank you, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi shrugged. "You're welcome."

"Nyeh, Iruka. Give me some of that," Tomiko yawned, stepping up beside him and arching his back in a languid stretch.

"No. It's got chocolate in it and it would be rude to throw up in Kakashi-san's home," the brunet huffed. "Besides, this is too good to share."

The feline yowled. "This is the thanks I get for tracking your brat?"

Iruka tilted his head. "If I recall correctly, you lost track of his scent and we were coming to ask Kakashi for help tracking him."

Tomiko's fur stood on end. "Only because the stupid scent of _dog _was everywhere." He narrowed his eye sat the copy-nin and hissed, then flipped his tail up haughtily and marched back over to the blond, curling up between his neck and shoulder.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "…Well, I do have several ninken."

"And we were near your home, so it's understandable." Iruka yawned quietly. "I don't know why I'm so tired. This is good coffee and I was already prepared to stay up for the night."

"If you were so concerned about Naruto, you're probably coming down from an adrenaline high," the jounin mused. "Maa, sensei, I have a sleeping bag in the closet. It's not as comfortable as a futon or the couch or my bed, but you might get some sleep."

The brunet ran a hand through his hair, catching his hair tie and pulling it out and letting his hair fall down around his shoulders. "If it's alright with you, I'll just share the futon with Naruto. Sometimes that helps and he won't sleepwalk again for several days."

"Well, if you'll be comfortable," Kakashi began doubtfully. It was quite a small futon and Naruto took up most of it. "Then I'll use the sleeping bag."

"Alright. Thank you for letting me stay the night, Kakashi-san," Iruka said, then stripped off his vest and weapon pouches so he could slip under the quilt thrown over the blond. "It's much easier to sleep with Naruto like this, though. He's too tired to squirm around and kick."

It was a tight fit, but Iruka was clearly never one to give up or admit defeat, so he snuggled under the blanket as much as he could and slid an arm over the blond's chest to pull him closer like a teddy bear. Naruto grunted, turned onto his side to snuggled into his chest, and sighed, relaxing just a little bit more.

Tomiko looked up and grumbled about stupid kittens stealing his heaters and promptly got up to move over beside Iruka's head.

The brunet scowled, eyes closed. "Tomiko, will you please not—"

Tomiko placed a paw on his face and began licking his hair.

"You're a butt," Iruka groaned. "Go lick Sasuke instead."

"Iruka, please. I do not lick strange people, and Uchihas have always been the epitome of strange."

Kakashi could only smile. Yes, the Kyuubi-container and his guardian were hogging his futon, and the Uchiha avenger had passed out on his couch, and Pakkun was taking up most of his bed, but suddenly, he didn't feel much like sleeping. It wasn't just because of the coffee. It wasn't just because of there being strange people in his house and not being used to them. It wasn't even that he didn't like sleeping.

He knew that they'd be sore in the morning. His futon was lumpy and hard, and his couch had a weird bar in the middle that made sleeping difficult. But they all looked so comfortable despite the obvious discomfort. He'd never seen Naruto sleep so peacefully as he was now, cuddled up to his teacher's chest. He knew that Iruka was probably sleeping lightly, ready to jump up if there was an attack, especially in Kakashi's home, but he looked like he was getting rest anyway. Sasuke was curled up against the back of the couch, back facing the room, but Kakashi knew that the Uchiha got his best rest when he wasn't sleeping at the Uchiha compound, surrounded by his memories.

Having finished his cup of coffee, he examined Iruka's half-finished drink curiously. After a moment, he reached out to grab it and take a sip.

"Guh-! Too sweet…!"

"Why do you think he prefers tea and cocoa?" Tomiko snorted, then leaped up onto the arm of the couch. He examined the young boy for a few moments, whiskers seeming to droop for a moment, then huffed and stepped onto the cushions so he could curl against the boy's back. "Ninja should know better than to sleep with their backs to the room."

Kakashi thought about pointing out that he was more than capable of protecting everyone if someone came in to attack them and that Iruka would surely help, but as he watched Sasuke turn over and wrap his arms around the large feline, he realized that Tomiko was not talking about strategy or safety or anything ninja-like at all.

A _child_ shouldn't feel so unsafe that it had to hide from the rest of the room. He wondered whether Sasuke did it unconsciously or because he was so used to pushing other people away, even his teachers. He wondered why Sasuke only needed a warm furry body to make him open up.

He wondered why he'd never noticed before now.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the cat drift to sleep and leaned back against a wall, still holding the cooling cup of coffee as he watched the inky blackness of the sky lighten into a pale purple.

Because somehow, this was the most comfortable he'd been in his own apartment for a long, long time.


End file.
